Palliative care in interstitial lung disease: living well.

Progressive fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are characterised by major reductions in quality of life and survival and have similarities to certain malignancies. However, palliative care expertise is conspicuously inaccessible to many patients with ILD. Unmet patient and caregiver needs include effective pharmacological and psychosocial interventions to improve quality of life throughout the disease course, sensitive advanced care planning, and timely patient-centred end-of-life care.

Bone health in breast cancer patients: a comprehensive statement by CECOG/SAKK Intergroup.

Bone is the most common site of distant metastases in breast cancer that can cause severe and debilitating skeletal related events (SRE) including hypercalcemia of malignancy, pathologic fracture, spinal cord compression and the need for palliative radiation therapy or surgery to the bone. SRE are associated with substantial pain and morbidity leading to frequent hospitalization, impaired quality of life and poor prognosis. The past 25 years of research on the pathophysiology of bone metastases led to the development of highly effective treatment options to delay or prevent osseous metastases and SRE.

Palliative care knowledge and attitudes among oncology nurses in Qatar.

Objectives: Formal palliative care (PC) education is lacking in the middle eastern state of Qatar. This study was done to assess the need for PC education among oncology nurses in Qatar.

Methods: In March 2012, a self-constructed questionnaire was distributed to 115 nurses at the Qatar National Center for Cancer Care and Research.

Attitudes of medical oncologists in Qatar toward palliative care.

Objectives: The first and only palliative care (PC) unit in Qatar was established in 2008 to serve adult patients with cancer. As PC was only recently introduced to oncology practice in Qatar and the region, raising awareness among physicians is crucial. This survey study is designed to outline the level of awareness and knowledge of oncologists in Qatar toward PC.

Pattern of hospitalization of patients with cancer in an acute palliative care setting: Qatar's experience.

Palliative care is an essential part of in cancer treatment. Specialized palliative care units are starting to be incorporated into advanced healthcare systems. Qatar, a wealthy country in the Middle East, opened its first acute palliative care unit within a specialty cancer hospital in 2008.

Middle East experience in palliative care.

Palliative Care (PC) is still a relatively new concept in the Middle East (ME). It was first introduced in Saudi Arabia in 1992 and only recently in countries such as Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE. Although the majority of Middle-Eastern countries, including Palestine, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon are in the capacity building phase, others such as Saudi and Jordan already have localized provision.